Apparatus for forming wires



March 17, 1959 R. S. ZAPF APPARATUS FOR FORMING WIRES Filed March 28, 1955 2,s77,so9 APPARATUS FOR FoRMlNG WIRES Richard S'. Zapf, La Grange, Ill., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York e Application March 2s, 195s, serial No. 497,120

i'claim. (ci. 14o- 102) This invention relates to apparatus for forming wires and more particularly to a device for making U-.shaped4l bends in lead wires of resistors.

An object of this invention is to provide a device for quicklyrfbending yresistor lead wires atpredetermined positions.

1,23 to urge it upward to move the mandrel 26 and the y,forming lug 27 out of engagement with the lead wire 19.

2,817,809 Patented Mar. 17, 1959 reciprocably mounted in a guide 28 secured to and projecting above the cover 22. A pin 31 (Figs. 1 and 3) secured to the forming member 23 moves through a vslot 33 (Fig. 3) into an internal recess 30 in the guide 28 when the forming member 23 is lowered to engage the lead wire 19, and through a slot 34 in the guide 28 as Vthe forming member 23 is being raised after being manually rotated clockwise 180 to form a U-shaped bend 35 in the wire 19. Stop surfaces 37 in the recess 30 and coplanar with surfaces 38 on a raised portion of the lguide 28 limit rotation of the forming member 23 to 180. The surfaces 38 serve to guide the pin 31 into and out of the slots 33 and 34.

, A compression spring 40 mounted in the recess 30 engages an enlarged portion 41 of the forming member ifA handle 42 is secured to the upper end of thel forming Another Vobject of this invention'is -to provide a new,k f

f land improved device for accurately making a plurality of i U-shaped bends at dilerent positions in lead wires of ,y resistors.

f One embodiment of the present invention for bending l ilead* wires of resistors may include a body having a nest.k for receiving a resistor, a cover for maintaining the resistor. in the nest, retractable means attached to the cover lfor bending one of the lead wires of the resistor, a plurality of rotatable members mounted in the body and having lugs for engaging the lead wires to simultaneously bend them, means for actuating the rotatable members to bend the wires, and means for ejecting the resistor from the nest after the lead wires are bent.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description thereof and the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention in which Fig. 1 is a front view of the device with a portion broken away to show the forming member carried by the cover depressed to engage a lead wire of the resistor;

Fig. 2 is a view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 indicating the directions in which the wires are bent;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the guide;

Fig. 4 shows a resistor before the bending operations are performed on its two lead wires;

Fig. 5 shows the resistor and the forming elements after the first bend is made and before the forming member is moved upward to clear the lead wire;

Fig. 6 shows the completed resistor after the bending operations are concluded; and Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the inverted end of the forming member mounted on the cover showing the lead wire positioned between the mandrel and the forming lug.

Referring now in detail to the drawings a body 11 is shown mounted on a base 12 secured to a base clamp 13 for attaching the device to a desirable support. A nest 16 in the body 11 supports a resistor 17 having straight lead wires 19 and 20 to be formed by the present invention.

ing the resistor 17 in the nest 16 carries, in a hole extending therethrough, a rotatable and reciprocable forming member 23 having on its lower end a mandrel 26 and a bending lug 27 spaced from the mandrel for engaging the lead wire 19 of the resistor 17 to bend it around the mandrel, the lead wire 19 passing horizontally through the space 24 between the mandrel 26 and the bending lug 27 (Fig. 7). The forming member 23 is member 23 for manualoperation, the forming member 23 being moved' downward'into engagement with the lead-wire 19 and rotated clockwise 180 to form the U- shaped bend 35. After the bend is formed, the com- ,pression spring 40 elevates the forming member 23 to its normal upper position.

` A'pair Aof upright forming shafts 44 'and 45 secured to gears 47 yand 48 are rotatably mounted in vertical bores 50 and 51 in the body 11 (Fig. 1). The upper ends of v4 the A'shafts 44 and 45 carry short bending lugs 56 and A cover 22 (Fig. l) hinged to the body 11 for retainy 1,57, for forming the lead wires 19 and 20 around man- 30 ldr'els 53 and 54 secured to the shafts 44 and 45, respectively, the mandrels 53 and S4 being positioned in the axes of rotation of the shafts 44 and 45.

A short shaft 62 rotatably mounted in an aperture 63 in the base 12 is secured to a driving gear 64 which meshes with the gears 47 and 48 for rotating them to form U-shaped bends 66 and 67 in the lead wires 19 and 20, the forming shafts 44 and 45 rotating with the gears 47 and 48. A handle 68 secured to the driving gear 64 is manually moved between stops 71 and 72 to rotate the driving gear 64, the bends 66 and 67 in the lead wires 19 and 20 being formed when the handle 68 is moved clockwise into engagement with the stop 72.

A coil spring 74 (Fig. 2) positioned in an enlarged portion 75 of the aperture 63 is secured at one end in a slot 77 in the shaft 62 and at the other end to a pin 78 attached to the base 12, for urging the gear 64 and the handle 68 counterclockwise into abutment with the stop 71.

An ejector bar 80 pivoted to the body 11 by a pin 81 (Fig. 2) is positioned in a slot 82 which extends across the body 11 under the resistor 17, one end of the bar 80 projecting past the body 11 to serve as a handle for manually lifting the bar to eject the resistor 17 from the nest 16 after the lead wires 19 and 20 are formed.

Projections and 86 (Fig. 2) of the body 11 guide the lead wire 19 into proper position as the resistor 17 is placed in the nest 16, the lead wire 19 being the longer of the two lead wires 19 and 20. Spacers 88 on the body 11 engage the cover 22 to support and properly position it when it is moved into working position (Fig. 1).

In operating the device, the resistor 17 is placed in the nest 16 with the lead wires 19 and 20 in engagement with the forming shafts 44 and 45 and the cover 22 is swung into closed position as shown in Fig. 1. The operator then aligns the pin 31 with the slot 33 and forces the handle 42 downward to move the forming member 23 into engagement with the lead wire 19 (Fig. 1). The handle 42 is then manually rotated clockwise 180 to turn the forming member 23 to make the U-shaped bend 35 in the lead wire 19, the pin 31 engaging the surface 37 when the forming member 23 is rotated 180. The

handle 42 is released and the compression spring 40 moves the forming member 23 upward out of engagement with the lead wire 19.

After the forming member 23 has moved upward to clear the bend 35, the operator moves the handle 68 clockwise until it engages the stop 72. When the handle 68 is moved clockwise the driving gear 64 rotates the gears 47 and 48 counterclockwise whereby the bending lugs 56 and 57 form the lead wires 19 and 20 around the mandrels 53 and 54, respectively, thus making the bends 66 and 67. The handle 68 is then released, whereupon the coil spring 74 moves it counterclockwise into engagement with the stop 71.

The cover 22 is raised and the ejector bar 80 is lifted to eject the finished resistor 17 from the nest 16, whereupon another resistor 17 is placed in the nest 16 and the above procedure repeated.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of this invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and wall within the spirit and scope thereof.V

What is claimed is:

A device for bending resistor lead wires, comprising a body member having a recess for receiving the resistor, a cover pivotally secured to the body member for engaging and retaining the resistor in the recess, said cover having an internal recess intersected by a hole extending through member having a pair `of spaced projections for receiving therebetween and bending one of the lead wires of the resistor, a spring mounted on the forming member for raising said forming member from engagement with said one lead wire, a pin secured to the forming member and extending radially therefrom, said cover having a rst slot extending radially from the hole and interconnecting said internal recess for receiving the pin to guide the forming member into engagement with said one lead wire, said cover also having a second slot extending radially from the hole and interconnecting said internal recess for receiving the pin to permit upward movement of the forming member after said one lead wire is bent, a pair of shafts mounted in the body member and having slotted upper ends for engaging and bending the lead wires, a pair of gears secured to the shafts, a driving gear rotatably mounted on the body member and engaging the gears, a handle secured to the driving gear for actuating it to rotate the shafts to bend the lead wires, means for ejecting the resistor from the recess in the body member after the bending operation is completed, and a clamp for securing the device to a desirable support.

References Cited n the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 227,804 Martyn May 18, 1880 390,893 Owen Oct. 9, 1888 556,318 Roux Mar. 10, 1896 812,779 Ackley Feb. 13, 1906 1,073,189 Voorhees et al Sept. 16, 1913 1,212,437 Bates Jan. 16, 1917 2,430,119 Frank Dec. 6, 1943 2,452,593 Miller Nov. 2, 1948 

